Tag: Drama

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Summer 2022 First Impressions – Shine Post

Streaming: HIDIVE

Episodes: TBA

Source: Light Novel

Episode Summary: It’s been nearly a year since the idol group TiNgS was formed. Despite the apparent enthusiasm of the group members, however, their ticket sales have always been dismal. The owner of their talent agency calls them in for a conference and it’s made clear that they need to sell out a 2,000 seat concert venue in three months, or it’s all over for the group. This is absolutely a tall order, but the group members are promised a new manager to help whip them into tip-top singing and dancing shape.

Unfortunately, Naoki Hinase, the new manager, has some past trauma related to representing idols – it was, in fact, the reason why he was pushed out of his last job. Hoping to take on simple office work instead, he initially resists the push to represent TiNgS directly. However, Haru, the center, manages to convince Hinase of her own sincerity, even if her group members may not be entirely truthful about their own motivations. Hinase sets a more modest immediate goal of selling 100 tickets to one of the group’s regular shows, but will this be enough to get TiNgS off of life support?

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Summer 2022 First Impressions – Shoot! Goal to the Future

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: TBA

Source: Related to Aoki Densetsu Shoot!

Episode Summary: Tsuji was once a star on his soccer team, but his own arrogance over his skills as a shooter eventually spelled his downfall. After that he left soccer behind in favor of other pursuits, though his attitude toward the sport itself took on a specifically sour note. The team at Kakegawa high school has a championship history, but that seems to have faded into the past. Now other teams don’t even find them worth practicing against.

When Jo, one of the current team members perceives Tsuji’s disdain toward soccer, their philosophical differences blow up into a fight. In the background, a mysterious man watches this conflict with unusual interest. This man turns out to be Kamiya, a past member of the team and now a famous pro player. He returned to Japan upon the request of Kakegawa’s principal, and while he seems mostly uninterested in coaching the young members of his former team, witnessing a soccer shoot-out between Tsuji and Jo piques Kamiya’s interest. Perhaps there’s something he may be able to do for the team at Kakegawa high school – but it will take a lot of work for them to reach their destination as a cohesive team.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Spring 2022 First Impressions – Fanfare of Adolescence

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 13

Source: Original

Episode Summary: Yu Arimura is a member of a popular idol group, but after seeing horse racing for the first time he becomes fixated on the idea of becoming a jockey. After gaining entrance into an extremely competitive jockey-training high school, Yu’s fans and the media immediately begin questioning his motivations. Why not just continue to live the life of a famous idol like his fans obviously want? But Yu is committed to this new endeavor in spite of their protests.

On the day of the entrance ceremony, Yu’s convictions are put to the test. Not only are members of the media ready and waiting to hassle him, a mishap outside the building causes two horses to get loose, leaving the students to try to wrangle them. Yu feels in over his head, until one late-arriving student named Shun, who appears to have a gift for interacting with the animals, comes to the rescue. Shun shows Yu the view from atop a horse, and Yu realizes that he really is in the right place after all.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Winter 2022 First Impressions – Shenmue the Animation

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 13

Source: Video Game

Episode Summary: Ryo is an accomplished student and well-known as a martial artist. The training he received from his father allows him to lead his high school’s Karate club to victory. When Ryo returns home to his father’s dojo, however, he notices a conspicuously open door and finds his father fighting a losing battle against a man dressed in striking green kung-fu robes. The man blames Ryo’s father for an individual’s death, all while demanding the location of a mirror his father possesses. After learning its location, the man dressed in green finishes off Ryo’s father.

The aftermath of this incident is confusing – who was this man and why did he label Ryo’s father a killer? Some folks around town suspect the Chinese Mafia based out of the port of Yokohama might be to blame. It turns out that Ryo may not have known his father as well as he may have thought. As he begins to put the pieces together, Ryo finds himself under attack again, though this time his father’s teachings and wisdom prove invaluable. Rather than continue on to college as he’d planned, Ryo decides to use this time to learn more about his father’s dealings and perhaps gain more insight into his family’s past.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Winter 2022 First Impressions – Requiem of the Rose King

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: 24

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: The “War of the Roses,” so named because of the family crests of those involved, consumed the houses of Lancaster and York as they both sought the highest seat in England. Young Richard admires his father above all others, and longs for nothing more than for him to ascend the throne. When the battle ends in an unsatisfying truce, Richard begs his father to return to battle and win a decisive victory and become king. As the fighting draws on and things begin to look dire, Richard begins to believe the rumors of his own demonic nature and whether his “honeyed words” may have sentenced his father to death.

After escaping his cell, Richard encounters a mysterious man in the woods; a beautiful, melancholy person who claims to be a shepherd named Henry. Though Richard is nearly enraptured, he realizes that it’s not a friendship that will satisfy him, but a victory for his father. Soon afterward the tides turn and the Yorks achieve victory, putting this Henry, in reality the now-deposed King Henry, at the mercy of Richard’s wrath.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Winter 2022 First Impressions – My Dress-Up Darling

Streaming: Funimation and Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: Wakana Gojo lives with his grandfather, a craftsman who creates the Hina dolls used to celebrate the Hinamatsuri holiday. Ever since he was a child, Gojo harbored a deep love for the craft and the beauty of the dolls, a passion that resulted in the loss of a childhood friendship. Since then he’s spent all of his energy focused on honing his craft rather than trying to make friends, because he’s become sensitive about revealing his love for creating Hina dolls.

One day, after his grandfather’s antique sewing machine breaks, Gojo brings some of his doll costumes to school to work on them in the home economics classroom. As he’s enjoying the luxury of a modern sewing machine, the door swings open and in walks Marin, Gojo’s very beautiful and popular classmate. When she sees him using the sewing machine, she’s nearly ecstatic and asks to show him something. What she reveals is an in-progress cosplay she’s been working on that could definitely use some… finesse. Gojo critiques its shortcomings, but also admires Marin’s commitment to her goals. When she asks him to help her realize her dreams of embodying a favorite character, Gojo feels inspired to help her, and happy that he may have found someone to share his skills with who won’t make fun of them.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Winter 2022 First Impressions – Akebi’s Sailor Uniform

Streaming: Funimation and Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: Komichi Akebi is looking forward to starting junior high school at her mother’s alma mater, in part because it means she’ll finally get to wear a sailor uniform like she’s seen in her mother’s old photographs. Komichi and her mother pick out fabric at the fabric store so that her mother can sew together a uniform just for her, with each detail just perfect. When it’s finally finished and Komichi gets to try it on, it brings tears to her eyes – her dream is finally coming true.

Her world comes crashing down during the entrance ceremony, when Komichi learns that the uniform for the school changed to a blazer some years ago, making her the odd one out. Though she gets permission from the school principal to wear her uniform (since it was the school standard at one time and the principal seems to have some nostalgia for it), she struggles with how much attention her decision might potentially dump into her lap. But some unexpectedly wise words from her little sister convince her to keep wearing the uniform, and when the first day of school rolls around, it turns out that it might be the perfect icebreaker, as well as an opportunity to display Komichi’s strong will and integrity.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Winter 2022 First Impressions – Sasaki and Miyano

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: 12

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: Miyano is a male fan of BL manga – a “fudanshi” in the parlance. This is something he generally keeps under wraps until he meets the rough-and-tumble Sasaki, who intervenes to stop a fight Miyano witnesses. Miyano is happy for the intervention, and even happier that Sasaki seems interested enough to appreciate the BL stories that Miyano loves (even if Sasaki is a bit freer with his attention that Miyano tends to like).

Sasaki, for his part, not only finds that he enjoys spending time with Miyano, but also seems to appreciate Miyano’s soft features and earnest nature. The longer that the two maintain their friendship, the closer that Sasaki is to coming to terms with the fact that his admiration is steadily becoming closer to affection. He eventually realizes that he has feelings for Miyano, but does Miyano reciprocate those feelings?

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Winter 2022 First Impressions – Love of Kill

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: Chateau Dankworth is a young bounty hunter executing hits on behalf of a larger organization. One day while out on a job, she encounters an assassin named Ryang-Ha Song who immediately becomes smitten with her. His persistent advances eventually lead to him helping Chateau locate and neutralize her bounties. Ryang-Ha seems to be searching for something more substantial in compensation, though Chateau clearly finds him off-putting and only tolerates his constant phone messages in service of the “bigger picture” she operates within.

One day, Chateau’s agency is contacted by a client who plans to offer a substantial amount of money toward the capture neutralization of a certain hit man who managed to kill several high-ranking members of an Asian-based criminal organization. That bounty turns out to be none other than Ryang-Ha himself. Now Chateau must wrestle with the prospect of obtaining a substantial bounty, all the while figuring out how to handle her very dangerous romantic pursuer.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Winter 2022 First Impressions – Futsal Boys!!!!!

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: 12

Source: Mixed Media Project (including a smartphone game and live-action matches).

Episode Summary: Haru Yamato couldn’t have cared less about Futsal, until he happened to catch a bit of the U-18 world cup in which Tennouji, a player from Japan, pulled out one of his special moves. Now remaking himself in Tennouji’s image (or at least getting into the sport) has become a goal of Yamato’s. On his way to his high school entrance ceremony, a seemingly-ill-fated shortcut brings him face-to-face (though upside-down) with Seiichiro Sakaki, whose Futsal skill is definitely top-tier. The two successfully use the game to dissuade some bullies from picking on a group of kids.

But Sakaki is a bit of a one-man show, and therein lies the issue; though he and Yamato want to join the Futsal club at their school and find themselves in a pickup game fending off bullies once again, it’s clear to the more experienced team members that his lack of willingness to work together with others may become an issue. Can Yamato’s youthful spirit and willingness to have fun possibly break through Sakaki’s hard, selfish shell?

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